Latest Interviews
Showing 16–30 of 36 transcripts.
Clear all filters- All-In Podcast1h 36m
E141: State of Series A's, VC dry powder, IPO window opens + more with Bill Gurley & Brad Gerstner
Bill Gurley, Brad Gerstner, Calacanis, Friedberg, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks, J. Cal
In this All-Star Summer episode, hosts J.C. Calacanis and David Sacks discuss venture capital dynamics and career strategy with guests Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley. The panel analyzes the post-2021 market correction, noting that Series A valuations have returned to 2019 levels while predicting a near-term distress cycle for overvalued late-stage companies. Additionally, the conversation explores investment discipline regarding AI mania, critiques of private market valuation opacity, and the accelerating global risks of climate change alongside historical performance benchmarks.
- All-In Podcast1h 42m
E106: SBF's media strategy, FTX culpability, ChatGPT, SaaS slowdown & more
Calacanis, David Sacks, Chamath Palihapitiya, Friedberg
Sam Bankman-Fried is reportedly shifting his legal defense from fraud to criminal negligence to mitigate sentencing, a strategy that risks creating a self-incriminating record while exposing the role of complicit media outlets and venture capitalists in his rise. Concurrently, the crypto and tech sectors face severe governance failures at FTX alongside a predicted contraction in SaaS metrics as customer acquisition costs soar and capital becomes scarce. In the broader technology landscape, generative AI threatens to disrupt traditional search and software models by shifting industry standards from SaaS to Models as a Service, though analysts warn of an impending startup bubble and lingering legal uncertainties regarding data ownership.
- Milken Institute1h 48m
Silver Linings Playbook: New Momentum for Outcomes-Driven Government
Matt Horton, Ben McAdams, Jennifer Park, Nancy Augustine, William Glasgall, Michael Grossman, Michael Hammett, Grace Simrall, Ryan Smith, Jen Tolentino
The National Academy of Public Administration launched its Center for Intergovernmental Partnerships in September 2024 to address systemic fragmentation across federal, state, and local agencies amid an $800 billion annual transfer landscape facing a potential fiscal cliff. This initiative spearheads three strategic projects targeting pandemic compliance, workforce shortages, and "No Wrong Door" service models while promoting outcomes-based financing and data-driven municipal innovations like Louisville's broadband expansion and Durham's driver's license reform. Panelists emphasize normalizing innovation failure to replicate these successful solutions and leveraging American Rescue Plan funds to build long-term evidence capacity rather than relying on temporary revenue replacement.
- Milken Institute1h 31m
The Post-COVID Recovery: California's Lagging Employment Rate
Grace Gedye, Julian Cañete, Reign Free, Manuel Pastor, Somjita Mitra, David Lesher, Matt Horton
California's Department of Finance, labor experts, and business leaders analyze the state's persistent 7.3% unemployment rate and structural labor shortages driven by childcare gaps, early retirements, and workforce migration to inland regions. Panelists project a 3.9% to 4% employment growth rate for the coming year, contingent on federal investments in the care economy and housing affordability while addressing risks from inflation and potential political shifts. The discussion highlights a fundamental recalibration of work where demand is shifting toward non-automatable sectors like elder care and cooperative business models rather than returning to pre-pandemic norms.
- Milken Institute1h 32m
Accelerating Securitization in Africa to Finance the SDGs
Alison Harwood, Lade Araba, Samuel Chasia, Juan Pablo de Mollein, John Schellhaus, Sam Chasia
The Milken Institute has launched the African Securitization Alliance, bringing together regulatory bodies from Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, and Côte d'Ivoire to mobilize private capital for Sustainable Development Goals. Participants will utilize a framework of internal and external credit enhancement mechanisms, such as tranching and third-party guarantees from entities like GARANTCo, to mitigate risk and improve market access. Upcoming activities include a specialized workshop in Ghana and a strategic shift toward replicable structures in renewable energy and affordable housing to overcome data gaps and legal barriers.
- Milken Institute1h 31m
Small Business Community: What Happened to Mom and Pop?
Nigel Duara, Lenore Estrada, Isabella Casillas Guzman, Eugene Cornelius, Jr., Carolina Martinez, Mark J. Robertson, Sr., David Lesher
Co-hosted by CalMatters and the Milken Institute, this strategic discussion examined the critical recovery challenges facing California's four million small businesses with special attention to the stark disparities affecting communities of color and women-owned enterprises. Featuring newly appointed SBA Director Isabella Casillas Guzman, the event analyzed how the agency's portfolio expansion to over $1 trillion was initially skewed by banking biases, prompting a pivot toward a "Five C's" framework that prioritizes coaching, diverse capital, and community navigation to address exclusion. Looking forward, the SBA is repositioning to connect small businesses with the $500 billion federal infrastructure marketplace while implementing a $100 million Community Navigator pilot to streamline access for underserved entrepreneurs.
- Milken Institute1h 48m
Working Smarter: The Future of Jobs
Richard Ditizio, Mary Gu, Robert Kelly, Dimitra Manis
This event synthesizes critical demographic shifts and technological disruptions, projecting that the global population will age significantly by 2050 while automation displaces 14% of the workforce. Speakers highlight stark disparities in educational progress between the US and Asia, alongside the rapid cost reductions in genomic sequencing and vertical farming that promise to redefine economic output. The discussion concludes with policy recommendations for gender equality and parenthood support, aiming to align future capital markets and digital fluency with a universal dream of opportunity based on merit rather than geography or origin.
- Y Combinator3h 6m
Female Founders Conference - Mountain View
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Adora Chung, Christina, Tiffany, Ashley, Alexandra Zadarin, Jess Lee, Holly Liu, Pat Piper
Founders and investors from companies including Promise, Vanta, Kabam, and Eight share evidence-based strategies for navigating criminal justice reform, cybersecurity automation, and hardware manufacturing while emphasizing the critical role of manual validation before scaling. Speakers like Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins and Holly Liu detail how relationship-driven sales and rapid, imperfect product launches drove their respective exits and market penetration despite significant operational hurdles. The session also addresses systemic challenges in fundraising and team building, with leaders such as Jess Lee advocating for mission-oriented narratives to secure capital and increase female representation in venture capital.
- Y Combinator4h 20m
Female Founders Conference - Mountain View
Kirsteen Nathoo, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Adora Chung, Christina, Tiffany, Ashley, Carolyn Levy, Alexandra Zatarain, Jess Lee, Holly Liu, Stephanie, Pat Piper
Hosted by Y Combinator partners Kirsteen Nathoo and Carolyn Levy, the five-year-old Female Founders Conference convened 350 women in Mountain View to discuss scaling strategies, fundraising, and product validation through sessions led by founders from Promise, Vanta, and Eight. The event featured critical insights on overcoming bias in venture capital from Sequoia Capital's Jess Lee and detailed case studies on pivoting and hiring from Kabam's Holly Liu, who shared lessons from her billion-dollar exit. Outcomes included actionable advice on "doing things that don't scale" for early traction, navigating government contracts, and shifting investor narratives from empathy to financial opportunity.
- Y Combinator3h 39m
Female Founders Conference - New York
Jessica Livingston, Kathryn Minshew, Alex Cavoulacos, Mariya Nurislamova, Reshma Shetty, Shan-Lyn Ma, Reham Fagiri, Tiffani Ashley Bell, Alana Branston, Katherine Minshew, Kirsty Nathoo, Adora, Stephanie, Holly Liu, Sharon Pope, Kat Mignolet, Matthew, Carolyn
Y Combinator and a diverse panel of founders, including Jessica Livingston and representatives from Zola and Scentbird, convened to discuss scalable startup strategies that prioritize values alignment, efficient hiring, and rapid product-market fit validation. The discussion highlighted critical insights such as the dangers of bias in "culture fit" evaluations, the necessity of avoiding "crappy yeses" during fundraising, and the importance of maintaining founder-led scrappiness even after significant capital deployment. By contrasting successful pivots in sectors ranging from wedding registries to virtual data science, the event underscored that sustainable growth relies on unique founder traits and disciplined metric management rather than traditional VC heuristics or rapid scaling alone.
- Y Combinator3h 42m
Startup Investor School Day 4 Live Stream
Andy Bromberg, Aaron Harris, Ron Conway, Jeff
The final day of Startup Investor School featured a comprehensive analysis of early-stage investment history by Andy Bromberg, behavioral standards for angel investors presented by Aaron Harris, and a founder-centric investment philosophy from Ron Conway. The session detailed the evolution from traditional venture capital to modern token offerings like ICOs while establishing a strict code of conduct emphasizing reputation, speed, and integrity in deal-making. Ultimately, the event equipped attendees with tools to model SAFE conversions and fostered a network committed to maintaining ecosystem transparency and supporting high-potential founders.
- Y Combinator4h 16m
Startup Investor School Day 3 Live Stream
Elad Gil, Pejman, Jeff Clavier, Andrea, Ali Partovi
Day 3 of the Startup Investor School convened five prominent investors, including Elad Gil, Pejman Nozad, Jeff Clavier, Andrea Zurlo, and Ali Partovi, to dissect critical strategies for market selection, team evaluation, and portfolio construction. The speakers emphasized that successful angel investing requires a 10-year horizon, strict risk discipline regarding net worth allocation, and a service-oriented mindset that prioritizes founder support over immediate financial gains. Key consensus points highlighted the necessity of investing in brilliant founders with big ideas regardless of initial market perceptions, maintaining long-term patience through early-stage losses, and building a personal brand rooted in integrity and operational availability.
- Milken Institute1h 38m
A Conversation with Ray Dalio and Michael Milken
Ray Dalio outlines his journey from a 1960s caddie to the architect of Bridgewater's "idea meritocracy," a philosophy forged after a costly 1982 sovereign debt mistake forced him to prioritize objective disagreement over ego. Drawing on historical cycles like the 1974 market crash and 1937 recession, Dalio warns of current parallels in wealth disparity and pension funding gaps while critiquing Bitcoin as a speculative bubble despite China's engineering strengths. His analysis concludes that future economic resilience depends on radical transparency, automation-ready skills, and recognizing that sustainable wealth is a byproduct of value creation rather than an end goal.
- Jane Street1h 38m
Yudkowsky vs Hanson — Singularity Debate
Eliezer Yudkowsky and Robin Hanson debated whether artificial superintelligence will emerge from a rapid, localized intelligence explosion or a gradual, decentralized accumulation across the global economy. While Yudkowsky argued that a small team could leverage hardware speed differentials to achieve a self-improving monopoly, Hanson countered that historical innovation patterns and the need for vast content would force AI development to remain integrated and shared. The post-debate audience vote shifted by seven voters to the "against" position, reflecting a narrow move toward Hanson's view that physical infrastructure and economic leakage prevent a single entity from instantly dominating the future.
- Y Combinator5h 9m
Female Founders Conference 2017
Avni Patel-Thompson, Emily Weiss, Laura Behrens Wu, Padmashree Warrior, Aileen Lee, Elizabeth Lyons, Vanessa Torridilla, Erica, Morgan de Bon, Diane Greene, Kirsty Nathoo, Carolyn Lebe, Anu Hariharan, Adora Chung, Jessica Livingston, Kat
The Female Founders Conference brought together prominent industry leaders like Avital Lee, Kate Winslet, and Aileen Lee to analyze the nine distinct factors that differentiate successful startups from unicorns. Prominent founders from companies such as Poppy, Glossier, and NIO shared case studies on overcoming funding rejections, pivoting from failure, and building inclusive cultures within male-dominated sectors. The event concluded with YC partners debunking common myths about early-stage investment while emphasizing that persistent storytelling and rigorous data preparation are essential for women founders navigating systemic bias.